1. Cattle Decapitation - 'The Harvest Floor' (Metal Blade)
Metal Blade Records
The Harvest Floor is Cattle Decapitation's fourth full-length, and their best CD so far. They've stepped up their songwriting a notch, which is crystal clear in the album opener "The Gardeners Of Eden." Crushingly fast death metal eases into a brief progressive interlude before the insanity resumes. Mellower sections continue to alternate with brutal ones as the band showcases both technical wizardry and restraint.
The typical song on The Harvest Floor doesn't have that obvious ebb and flow, but subtle changes of speed and intensity are evident throughout. Cattle Decapitation has raised the stakes on this one, injecting catchy riffs and a couple groovy hooks that make things much more memorable.
2. Thyrfing - 'Hels Vite' (Regain)
Regain Records
The Swedish band Thyrfing has undergone some lineup changes. Gone are vocalist Thomas Väänänen and guitarist Henrik Svegsjö. The band decided to stick with a single guitarist, and added Jens Ryden (Naglfar) as their new vocalist. Hels Vite is Thyrfing's sixth studio CD. It finds the band getting darker and heavier, but maintaining the atmosphere and majesty of their previous work. The seven songs range in length from 5 to 9 minutes, but Thyrfing's is able to hold the listener's attention throughout.
Songs like "Isolation" are epic, with choirs and a lot of orchestration. Conversely, there are a lot of rawer black metal sections in Hels Vite as well. Thyrfing does a nice job balancing the symphonic and the harsher elements.
3. Kreator - 'Hordes Of Chaos' (SPV)
SPV Records
Hordes Of Chaos is jam packed with fast and aggressive thrash riffs and thundering drums. But Kreator shows plenty of versatility as well. For example, on "Amok Run" the tempo starts out slow with vocalist Mille Petrozza singing melodically. It gradually gets more intense with harsher singing, faster tempos and eventually straight out screaming.
There are a lot of very strong songs with good melodies, hooks and creative shredding. There are also a couple of filler songs that are a bit on the generic side. Still, Hordes Of Chaos will satisfy Kreator and thrash fans. In the midst of this thrash revival it's nice to see those who were there at the beginning are still able to show the kids how it's done.4. Wino - 'Punctuated Equilibrium' (Southern Lord)
Southern Lord Records
Scott "Wino" Weinrich takes care of the vocals and guitars, and he brought aboard drummer Jean Paul Gaster (Clutch) and bassist Jon Blank (Rezin). Punctuated Equilibrium delivers the doom Wino is famous for, but with a few twists. Many songs are played at fast tempos with bluesy guitar riffs and a powerful groove.
"Eyes Of The Flesh," on the other hand, is slow and crushing. It moves along at a glacial pace with distorted guitars and textbook doom style. "Secret Realm Devotion" is a psychedelic song straight from the Freedom Rock collection. Several instrumental tracks keep the doom/stoner/psychedelic vibe going, but showcase the band's musical prowess.5. Rumplestiltskin Grinder - 'Living For Death' (Relapse)
Relapse Records
Hitting upon everything from dark metal to metal-sounding hardcore punk, Rumplestiltskin Grinder is obviously not musically conservative. In “Traitor’s Blood,” they drift between tough guy hardcore breakdowns, evil black metal runs and blistering death metal riffing. And with album closer, “Revolution of Underground Legions (Dethroning the Tyrant Pt. 3),” a brief acoustic part starts off before they grind out a relatively slower, dreary riff.
In terms of vocals, piercing screams are occasionally released, but the singers primarily utilize raspy, well-enunciated hardcore shouts (in “Fiends In The Mountain, Ghouls In The Valley,” it actually sounds like they’re laying down tracks for a Biohazard album).